1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight. More specifically, the present invention involves improving the workability in the assembly by integrally providing a thrust receiver that receives the load of a lamp unit, on a case member of an actuator that rotates the lamp unit in a predetermined direction.
2. Background Art
Examples of vehicle headlights include lamp units having a light source and a reflector that reflects light emitted from the light source disposed in a lighting casing constituted by a cover and a lamp housing.
Such vehicle headlights include a type in which the lamp unit is supported by a support portion such as a frame or a bracket so as to be rotatable (tiltable) and the lamp unit is rotated by the driving force of an actuator (see, for example, Patent References 1 and 2).    Patent Reference 1: JP-A-2008-094275    Patent Reference 2: JP-A-2007-128856
By the lamp unit being rotated (tilted) in the vertical direction by the actuator, a so-called leveling adjustment is performed to adjust for the optical axis shift that varies depending on the weight of the load on the vehicle. Also, by the lamp unit being rotated in the right-left direction by the actuator, a so-called swivel operation is performed to change the direction of the optical axis so as to follow the running direction of the vehicle.
In the above-described vehicle headlight that performs the leveling adjustment by the actuator, the actuator is disposed below the lamp unit, the lower end of the lamp unit is coupled to a connecting shaft provided on the actuator, and a supporting point (spherical portion) serving as the supporting point of rotation for the leveling adjustment is provided at the upper end of the lamp unit. In the leveling adjustment, by the lower end being moved in the front-rear direction by the driving force of the actuator, the lamp unit is rotated in the vertical direction about the supporting point.
In the vehicle headlight described in Patent Reference 1, the actuator includes a case member and a driving mechanism disposed in the case member. The case member includes a slide support portion and a supported portion supported by the slide support portion so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. A connecting shaft is provided as a part of the driving mechanism. In the leveling adjustment, the supported portion and the driving mechanism are integrally moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the slide support portion to rotate the lamp unit in the vertical direction.
In the vehicle headlight described in Patent Reference 2, the actuator includes a case member and a driving mechanism disposed in the case member. A connecting shaft is provided as apart of the driving mechanism. In the leveling adjustment, the connecting shaft is moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the case member to rotate the lamp unit in the vertical direction.
In the vehicle headlight performing such a leveling adjustment, a thrust receiver for receiving the load of the lamp unit is disposed between the lower end of the lamp unit and the actuator. The upper surface of the thrust receiver is a gentle arc surface that is convex downward in correspondence with the path of the rotation of the lamp unit in the leveling operation. In the leveling adjustment, the lower surface of the lamp unit slides on the upper surface of the thrust receiver, whereby a smooth rotation of the lamp unit is ensured.
In the vehicle headlights described in Patent References 1 and 2, the thrust receiver is attached to a support member such as a frame or a bracket.
However, in the vehicle headlight described in Patent Reference 1, the thrust receiver is provided as an independent part that is different from the actuator. Consequently, it is necessary to attach the actuator to predetermined parts after the thrust receiver is attached to a support member such as a frame or a bracket. Thus, the number of steps of the assembly process is large, the workability in the assembly is reduced, and the working hours are increased.